Sunday, January 21, 2007

Knock On Nurses, Bring On Curses

Nurses are funny people. And I mean that in both senses of the word. Sometimes you have funny ha-ha nurses who make you laugh. And sometimes you have nurses who act funny for no apparent reason, like the one in this story. I personally have had experiences with many nurses (most of whom are hot and obviously wanted to drag me into the nearest store cupboard and do a Grey's Anatomy on me. It can be tough, being a hot young doctor in a hospital with a nursing college right behind it... --Editor). The most memorable one was with a nurse in an Intensive Care Unit who was butch and tough and looked like Dr Bailey would if she were a nurse:

But when the time came when her patients needed her, she demonstrated real care and diligence. She would even skip lunch and stay on at the station when poncy doctors dropped their clipboards and headed for the cafeteria. And she was nice to me. She'd tell me stuff the consultants wouldn't repeat for me and give me pointers before my fat was fried by said consultants.

I also knew she had a tough life. It showed. But she fought it and kept going. I met her during an attachment back in the days before medical school. She gave me my first glimpse into the hell that is medicine.

Recently a family member of mine had to have surgery. I was sitting in the waiting room trying to be the strong voice of reassurance to my family. I was, after all, a highly educated medic, dammit. But all I managed was a bad impression of a castrato singer trying not to sound like a castrato singer.

Ah yes, the stormy relationship between doctors and nurses. Who can explain it? There is a framed prescription on my desk that I'm sentimental about, written for me by an ER doc I once worked with, and it's written for "one pineapple pie"...

Hi, finally made it over. Brain status questionable. Did read the post on Medscape. Was good. I've had both good and bad experiences with doctors and nurses but really, will always have a soft spot for nurses as I started on the path to become one. Path derailed but nonetheless...

This is what I like to see. Doctors and nurses bigging each other up rather than sniping and trying to devalue each other. It's like ebony and ivory, side by side on my computer keyboard (oh lord, why can't we?)

You're right not to listen to those doctors you mention in your other post who say that nurses don't have much of a role in somebody's hospital stay. As somebody replied in the comments box, the fact that they need nursing care is the reason they're in hospital. If they only needed to see a doctor, that's what outpatient appointments are for. I suspect that the doctor who said this to you will learn their mistake next time they visit a hospital as a patient rather than a doctor.

Also, don't worry about having sounded like a castrato first time you tried to counsel a distressed family. This is something we all find very difficult at first, myself included. You'll find that it gets easier through knowledge and experience. This will cause your confidence to grow, and you'll become the shining hero doctor who saved the day, and then some hot young nurse will do you in a cleaning cupboard. ;)

I have a confession to make. I've shamelessly stolen the editoral input style you use so well and often for my last post. I'm an awful person. I apologise. I did link back to you though, so credit where credit is due.

Spirit of 1976: Hahahahaha! That last line cracked me up. Thanks for the sentiments about the post. You know how I feel about doctors and nurses; we went through the whole Nurse Ratchet debacle together. Still agreeing with you completely there.

Carmelo: Heh. Nah, I myself stole the editor thing from quite a few bloggers; it's quite a common literary device, and I'm just uncommonly lazy :) Thanks for the mention though, and for the extremely kind comment about my blog. So far the only ass it has gotten kicked is mine, when the Head Proctor's boot connected with it :(

Dan: Hey, my goofy smile brightens days, okay. Patients love it when I show up at their wards. It's just a minor glitch that they think I'm a grief counselor instead of an actual doctor.

new to your blog and i agree with you 100%. the hospital and doctors are nothing without the rest of the team. We need every service from the CEO/President, doc's, nurses, lab techs, Radiologic technologist all the way to environmental services or housekeeping. The hospitals can not function without everyone working together under one umbrella.

Various types of medicines have been created for various reasons, a very small sample of which are the most common, with name and use: Tylenol- Sore body parts Methamphetamines- Cigarette addiction. A1 Steak Sauce- No friends, and a lot of steak Butane Lotion- Poison Oak Orange Potion- Revives HP and MP by 50 points Methanol- A wife who hates you Dopamine Enhancers- Brighten up that smile! Fluorine Substrates- Pleasure to burn, on a chemical level Glue- She won’t go out with you Moonstone- To force a pokemon into evolution Gatorade- For those who can’t exercise by themselves Chlorofluorocarbons- So big a word you feel better Motrin- Body lacerations, to small dead animals, but not Poison Oak. Phoenix Down- Can be used to ressurect dead family members, or even kittens.

About Me

The Angry Medic is an idiot who got into Cambridge University due to his unusually attractive eyelashes. For 6 years he ranted his way through the freakshow and wide-screen madness that is the medical course at Cambridge and Imperial College London, while finding time to express an opinion on medicine, social issues, and anything else he considers pains in the gluteal region. He can now be found being terrorised by patients somewhere near you.

Have you been overly enthralled by the allure of Cambridge and want to give it a crack? Has someone hit you on the head with a large frying pan and now you want to go to medical school? Do you want to join me in a suicidal leap off the Bridge of Sighs? Or have you a rant more boring than mine? Drop me a line at angrymedic [at] gmail [dot] com

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All persons and events described on this blog are fictional unless explicitly stated otherwise and are intended purely for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or events past or present is purely coincidental.

The contents of this blog are not intended to cause offense to anyone. No university students were harmed in the creation of this blog (well okay, maybe one).